The SASS 4000 is a highly efficient, high-volume aerosol concentration device. Many applications require the collection and analysis of aerosol particles, ranging from counter-terrorism to epidemiology, medicine, and agriculture. These applications typically involve the monitoring or collection of airborne plant, animal or human pathogens. But aerosol sample analysis is frequently plagued by four problems.
• The targeted pathogen is present at a very low concentration;
• The collection process involves too small an air sample to be statistically valid;
• The temperature is below freezing; and/or
• Available bioassay methods are not sensitive enough.
A concentrator solves these problems by processing large volumes of ambient air, and continuously transferring particulates from this primary air stream to a much smaller secondary airflow. As a result, the secondary flow can reach aerosol concentrations that are 4X to 15X higher than present in the incoming air.